Mugabe's thugs waved through Australian skies

By Russell Skelton

July 22, 2008 — 10.00am

AIR ZIMBABWE is using Australian air space to ferry military officials and war veterans responsible for political violence in Robert Mugabe's repressive regime to China.

Flights from Harare, also carrying tonnes of illicit goods including ivory, gold and diamonds, pass directly through Australian air space en route to Singapore, before touching down in Beijing and southern China.

The Herald has been told that the flights, scheduled to depart on Monday and Fridays, have regularly been commandeered over the past year by Mr Mugabe and his "palace cronies" for junkets and holidays, leaving business passengers stranded at Harare International Airport.

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Zimbabwe aviation sources said a recent flight carried 15 tonnes of unidentified "palace cargo" to Beijing to be exchanged for weapons and luxury items.

A spokesman for Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, yesterday declined to say what Australia's position was on the flights.

The Herald understands that Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition party is bewildered by Australia's failure to ban Air Zimbabwe from its air space - in line with a ban announced by the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, David Emerson, last month.

The ban, following Zimbabwe's violence-marred run-off election on June 27, is accompanied by restrictions on Zimbabwean government, military and police officials and their families travelling, working and studying in Canada.

It is believed the aircraft are guided through Australia air space over the Indian Ocean by traffic controllers in Brisbane. Government sources said the Rudd Government had the power to refuse the flights access to the air space.

Zimbabwe aviation sources said the China flights were a political lifeline for President Mugabe and his Government, which faces international condemnation from Europe and the US. They claimed the country's wealth was being freely exchanged in China for luxury items and fittings for the $15 million presidential palace.

"You often see war veterans on these flights. They are being rewarded for their thuggery with free junkets to China," a flight engineer said. "When the flights arrive back in Zimbabwe they are escorted to a secured part of the airport and unloaded by trusted palace staff. They are often crammed with plasma televisions and luxury goods that people can only dream about.

"Just before the recent elections the return flights carried tonnes of posters and printed political propaganda and T-shirts for the war veterans.'

China has been steadily spreading its influence in Africa in an effort to secure energy and food resources for its rapidly expanding economy.

Another Zimbabwean flight engineer, who also asked not be named to protect his safety, said the Beijing flights were hazardous because safety requirements and mandatory rest breaks for crews were regularly ignored. "There is non-stop smoking. Flight engineers are not properly rested, yet if something goes wrong, they are the ones responsible for fixing it."

In April a Chinese ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms including AK-47 rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades destined for Zimbabwe was turned away from the South African port of Durban.